CATCH A CLASSIC Written & Directed by Michael Crichton
TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.
Michael Crichton is most remembered for having several of his popular novels adapted into movies, like Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Rising Sun and many others. But the author was also a filmmaker in his own right, and two films that he wrote and directed air tonight on Turner Classic Movies. First up is The Great Train Robbery (pictured), Crichton’s 1978 adaptation of his 1975 historical novel. The neo-noir heist film stars Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down, and Crichton’s screenplay won an Edgar Award, which honors the best in mysterythemed works of fiction. The second film on tonight’s bill is Westworld (1973). If you’re more familiar with the HBO series adaptation of the same name, that all started here with Crichton’s sci-fi thriller, which has similar themes and story elements that he later revisited in Jurassic Park. Nominated for major science-fiction awards — Hugo, Saturn and Nebula — the film is about a Wild West-themed amusement park populated by androids that malfunction and begin killing visitors. Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin star.